Help! Why can't I lose weight?

littlezittlechick

For the past 7 weeks I have been working out and meticulously tracking my weight and food intake but have seen minimal results- down 3.1 lbs and .5% BF. I currently weigh 197.2 lbs (35.5% BF) and started at 200.3 lbs (36% BF). I record my weight every day and see up and downs but no real losses considering my eating and fitness habits.

This has been my daily average from the past 48 days:
Intake: 1598 calories
Exercising calories: 426 calories
Deficient: -888 (I have a desk job, so using MFP sedentary of 2060 calories)
Water intake: 8 cups
Protein intake: 71g
Cardio: 85 minutes x 5 days a week
Weights: 105 minutes x 3 days a week

I started weights about 5 weeks ago and have generally been able to increase each week by about 10,000 lbs- last night I totaled 125,390 lbs lifted. For weights I am doing the following 18 exercise machines (5 sets each) and track it using LF Connect:
Legs- Seated leg press, leg extension, calf extensions, hip adduction, hip abduction, seated leg curl and glute
Core- back extension, torso rotation and abdominal
Arms- Tricep Press, bicep curl, pull-down, fly, lateral raise, chest press, row/rear deltoid and shoulder press

My cardio consists of the Arc Trainer, treadmill, recumbent bike and walking.

I gained 50lbs this past year because of medication I was taking; I stopped 5 months ago. I have always been a healthy eater so watching what I eat is not a big change; the amount of working out is more than I’m used to.

Am I eating too much? Too little? Should I be doing less weights? More cardio? More protein?
From what I have lost in 7 weeks, I should have lost in 2 according to MFP. I realize everyone is different but I think I should have lost more by now.
I’m still going to stick with it, I’m just looking for some guidance if I should be changing something.
Thanks!!

malibu927

If you aren't losing weight/losing as fast as you believe you should, you're either eating more than you think or burning less than you think, and possibly both. How do you measure your food? How do you determine your burns?

wkwebby

Your numbers need to be looked at again. If MFP set you at over 2000 calories, this is the number you should try to reach with your goal in mind (-2lb/week, etc.). If you aren't hitting even close to that and then not eating back your exercise calories, then you are at a bigger deficit than you should be.

Like always, weigh your food and never take the exercise calories that you find on MFP at face value (it is always a high estimate). Get your caloric intake in order and then slowly start your exercise routine and ramp up from there. You are changing too many things at once to really determine what is going on with your weight loss.

That being said, you have lost some weight, so that is always a good thing.

GauchoMark

Sounds like you are doing everything right. A 900 calorie deficit is a little high, but due to your %BF being a little high, that isn't anything to be concerned with - you can tolerate that deficit as long as you are feeling OK.

Because of the high deficit, it is doubtful that you would be logging food/exercise SO inaccurately that you are really slowing yourself down, but you might just do a sanity check in that arena.

Your exercise routine is pretty intense... you are probably overtraining a little bit. 85 minutes of cardio 5x a week plus 105 minutes 3x @125k lbs lifted? You could probably shorten that quite a bit by upping intensity. 85 minutes of cardio is at a pretty slow pace I'm guessing - what does your heart rate get up to? Also how many reps/set are you doing on weights?

esjones12

You spend over 12 hours at the gym a week? I feel like I live there with 7-8.....

Honestly your post is hard to follow but something seems super off. With an average "888" deficit a DAY you should be losing 3-4 pounds a week. You are either eating way more than you think you are, or are burning a lot less than you think you are. Probably both.

Do you use a food scale and measure everything you eat? Portion sizes are a lot smaller than most people think....

Best of luck!

whatatime2befit

What did you set your MFP goal as? 1 or 2 lbs a week? The 2060 calories you mention MFP gives you seems really high if you have a 1 or 2 lb goal set. How tall are you?

I have 1.5 lb per week goal, set at sedentary, and MFP gives me 1200 cals a day. Your 2060 seems really high.

Camo_xxx

Do the simple math and find the truth. You lost 3 pounds in 7 weeks. Meaning you lost .44 pounds per week and ate on average a 220 calorie deficit per day. If that doesn't match what you log then you need to get better at logging.

cwlsr

I make it short! Your present plan reminds me of the old saying "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." If your food intake is depleted to much your body will go into starvation mode. Back off get your food intake at a reasonable amount by setting MFP at a 2 lb. per week and spend 1 hour walking on the treadmill. After you see that you are losing weight then start adding back weights and extend other forms of exercise. See this is as a life time journey of good health and not a race to lose weight. Here is wishing you the best. Moderation in all things can bring good results. Note: Have you ever met any fat people who regularly walk 1 or 2 miles a day for exercise?

littlezittlechick

Thanks everyone!! I incredibly appreciate your comments!

I don’t have a heart rate monitor, it’s on my list for Christmas, so based on the machines (which I know aren’t accurate) I range from 120-170 bpm. The lower end is when I’m on the recumbent bike and the upper end is when I’m on the Arc Trainer.

I generally do 30 cardio minutes at lunch in the gym and then 30 again after work. The additional time is walking outside. I use the machines to calculate my burns and then input them into the app. I looked at what it takes me to do 1 mile on each of the machines:
Arc Trainer (usually Speed Bump L5)- 1 mile, 22 minutes. 290 calories
Recumbent Bike (Random L10)- 1 mile, 4 minutes, 30 calories
Treadmill (Walk/Run)- 1 mile, 14 minutes, 115 calories

From what I have read on other posts, yes, people generally tend to under estimate their food and overestimate their burns but I have tried my best not to. I use a scale and measuring cups for most things.

My daily goal is set at ‘Lose 2 lbs/week’ so a 1200 net calories intake. The 2060 number I posted initially is the ‘Calories Burned from Normal Daily Activity.’ It has my Daily Calorie Deficit at 840 (I’m averaging 888) and Projected Weight Loss is 1.7 lbs/ week. I’m 29 years old female and am 5’ 6”.

Here is my rep/sets from yesterday:

esjones12

littlezittlechick wrote: »

Thanks everyone!! I incredibly appreciate your comments!
................

From what I have read on other posts, yes, people generally tend to under estimate their food and overestimate their burns but I have tried my best not to. I use a scale and measuring cups for most things.

My daily goal is set at ‘Lose 2 lbs/week’ so a 1200 net calories intake. The 2060 number I posted initially is the ‘Calories Burned from Normal Daily Activity.’ It has my Daily Calorie Deficit at 840 (I’m averaging 888) and Projected Weight Loss is 1.7 lbs/ week. I’m 29 years old female and am 5’ 6”.
.....................

Bingo. Weigh and measure everything.

I'm 24, 5'8" and 188 pounds. My calories are 1590 a day (for -1lb a week) plus whatever I burn in exercise. Like I said I usually spend around 7-8 hours at the gym a week burning 200-500 calories a day that I eat back. So I am generally eating between 1590-2000 calories a day. The pounds are falling off...

littlezittlechick

I probably weigh and measure 80% of things. I'll take your advise and measure everything. For things like carrots and almonds I individually count them but I'll start weighing them to see if that makes a difference.
Glad to hear you are having success!

ndj1979

if you are using the machine burns of MFP given burns for exercise that is part of the problem too ...you should only eat back half of what the machine and/or MFP is telling you burned...so if they give you a burn of 500 only eat back 250....

acorsaut89

whatatime wrote: »

What did you set your MFP goal as? 1 or 2 lbs a week? The 2060 calories you mention MFP gives you seems really high if you have a 1 or 2 lb goal set. How tall are you?

I have 1.5 lb per week goal, set at sedentary, and MFP gives me 1200 cals a day. Your 2060 seems really high.

Mine is at approx 1975 and I'm 5'9, 250 lbs, but for her who started at 200 lbs it is really high, unless she's like 6'4

Although she later posts that it is her TDEE ( I think is what she's getting at)

ndj1979

cwlsr wrote: »

I make it short! Your present plan reminds me of the old saying "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." If your food intake is depleted to much your body will go into starvation mode. Back off get your food intake at a reasonable amount by setting MFP at a 2 lb. per week and spend 1 hour walking on the treadmill. After you see that you are losing weight then start adding back weights and extend other forms of exercise. See this is as a life time journey of good health and not a race to lose weight. Here is wishing you the best. Moderation in all things can bring good results. Note: Have you ever met any fat people who regularly walk 1 or 2 miles a day for exercise?

OP is not going to go into starvation mode eating 1800 calories a week ....

littlezittlechick

acorsaut89 wrote: »

whatatime wrote: »

What did you set your MFP goal as? 1 or 2 lbs a week? The 2060 calories you mention MFP gives you seems really high if you have a 1 or 2 lb goal set. How tall are you?

I have 1.5 lb per week goal, set at sedentary, and MFP gives me 1200 cals a day. Your 2060 seems really high.

Mine is at approx 1975 and I'm 5'9, 250 lbs, but for her who started at 200 lbs it is really high, unless she's like 6'4

Although she later posts that it is her TDEE ( I think is what she's getting at)

My daily goal is set at ‘Lose 2 lbs/week’ so a 1200 net calories intake. The 2060 number I posted initially is the ‘Calories Burned from Normal Daily Activity.’ It has my Daily Calorie Deficit at 840 (I’m averaging 888) and Projected Weight Loss is 1.7 lbs/ week. I’m 29 years old female and am 5’ 6”.

silentKayak

I agree with 'eat back half'. Calories burned estimates are always way too high.

3 lbs in 7 weeks is not "nothing". For one thing, you're at better than maintainance now where before you were gaining fast. Things are going in the right direction, and that's what counts.

Sounds like you're doing great! Good luck!

AskTracyAnnK28

cwlsr wrote: »

I make it short! Your present plan reminds me of the old saying "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." If your food intake is depleted to much your body will go into starvation mode.

Nope.

acorsaut89

cwlsr wrote: »

I make it short! Your present plan reminds me of the old saying "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." If your food intake is depleted to much your body will go into starvation mode. Note: Have you ever met any fat people who regularly walk 1 or 2 miles a day for exercise?

No

What does being fat have to do with walking 1 or 2 miles/day? I'm "fat" and I run 4 days/week plus spin two days a week . . . does this mean I'm an oddity? No, it means I work my *kitten* to have a nicer *kitten*.

LeanButNotMean44

littlezittlechick wrote: »

Here is my rep/sets from yesterday:

Did you really do ALL of this in one day of lifting? If so, I'd suggest you find an actual program like Stronglifts, New Rules of Lifting for Women, etc. If this is the program you are running, it is terrible (too much of everything), imho.

littlezittlechick

LeanButNotMean44 wrote: »

littlezittlechick wrote: »

Here is my rep/sets from yesterday:

Did you really do ALL of this in one day of lifting? If so, I'd suggest you find an actual program like Stronglifts, New Rules of Lifting for Women, etc. If this is the program you are running, it is terrible (too much of everything), imho.

Yes I did. Thanks, I'll look into those

hamoncan

Weird. Either there's a miscalculation somewhere or the OP ought to have lost close to 15 lbs by now.

Even though no much weight loss, do your clothes fit significantly different? (Longshot but some people gain muscle easily, esp at first).

FWIW, IMHO, etc. less is more on the weight training IMO. Simplify your routine and lift hard for 30ish sets total for the whole week (any more and you're taxing your joints too much) and then just walk or jog as you'd like for weight loss.

LeanButNotMean44

littlezittlechick wrote: »

LeanButNotMean44 wrote: »

littlezittlechick wrote: »

Here is my rep/sets from yesterday:

Did you really do ALL of this in one day of lifting? If so, I'd suggest you find an actual program like Stronglifts, New Rules of Lifting for Women, etc. If this is the program you are running, it is terrible (too much of everything), imho.

Yes I did. Thanks, I'll look into those

You should not have to spend any more than 45-60 minutes lifting per day. Sometimes less is more.

DawnieB1977

Have you measured yourself?

I have quite a big deficit every day and only lose about a pound a week (and I do use a food scale) but I've lost a lot of inches quite quickly. I always tend to lose inches faster than lbs. Maybe it's because I'm losing weight after having a baby, who knows.

nellyett

In my opinion, your calorie deficit is a little too aggressive. I've entered your information into a TDEE calculator (link below) and for a comfortable 1-2 pound per week loss you should be eating around 2000 cals per day GROSS. Could even be as high as 2200 per day.

Your TDEE based on the exercise you've stated is anywhere from 2500-2800 cals expended per day. Take 20% off of that and you will be in a deficit.

Your BMR is 1600 and you should be NETTING at LEAST this. Not the 1200 you're aiming for.

Log accurately, trust the numbers and have patience. Eat whole and healthy foods 80 percent of the time, and fit in your treats 20 percent of the time. The weight will come off and you will not feel deprived. I wish I had known all of this in my 20's!!

Worked like a charm until I quit smoking....:) Back at it after a long bulk/recomp and it's working again like it's supposed to

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

GaleHawkins

"Now, if you're trying to lose weight, protein is still crucial. The fewer calories you consume, the more calories should come from protein, says Layman. You need to boost your protein intake to between 0.45 and 0.68 gram per pound to preserve calorie-burning muscle mass."

Source: menshealth.com/mhlists/guide-to-protein/printer.php